Portion of $36Mil supplemental going to solve Interim Audit glitch

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The U.S Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has an open-ongoing audit, which began in 2020, of the American Samoa Government’s use of the millions of dollars awarded to the territory through the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) proceeds.

And this was confirmed in a Sept. 12, 2023 memo from Deborah L. Harker, the Assistant Inspector General for Audit of the US Treasury’s OIG to Jessica Milano, the US Treasury’s Acting Chief Recovery Officer. The 12-page memo pertains to the “Interim Audit Update ─ Audit of American Samoa’s Uses of Coronavirus Relief Fund Payment.”

Since Samoa News first reported on this OIG audit, which pertains to $1.5 million of CRF proceeds used by ASG to purchase the vessel, MV Pago Pago, there have been inquiries — some of them through the “Just Asking” column — as to an ongoing OIG investigation or audit into ASG’s spending of CRF, especially with the memo saying “interim audit update.”

Samoa News notes that the $1.5 million is one of several projects listed by the Administration under its $36 million supplemental bill for fiscal year 2023 pending in the Fono.

And this is one of the two measures the Administration proposed to be taken up in the Special Session of the Fono called by the governor to convene next month. (See yesterday’s Samoa News edition for details on the special session.)

BACKGROUND

According to the memo, it was on July 31, 2020, that OIG initiated an audit of American Samoa’s use of CRF proceeds under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

The objective of the audit is to assess whether the ASG used CRF proceeds in accordance with provisions of federal law and U.S Treasury Coronavirus Relief Guidance for State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments (Guidance) and Coronavirus Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Additionally, the scope of the audit includes uses of all CRF proceeds from the date of payment on April 21, 2020, through March 31, 2021.

Based on OIG audit work as of early September 2023, and “due to the importance of transparency and accountability surrounding the use of CRF, we are sharing our initial finding and recommendation in this interim report prior to completion of all audit work related to our overall audit objective,” the memo says.

“Our work continues related to the audit of ASG’s use of CRF proceeds,” the memo points out.

The memo then went on to explained OIG’s audit process involving the purchase of the MV Pago Pago vessel and related barge — as part of the interim update audit report.

According to the interim update audit, ASG use of $1.5 million of CRF proceeds, to purchase the MV Pago Pago, was in “violation” of federal laws and regulations of the U.S Treasury and ASG agreed with OIG to pay back the money, which the territorial government has done. (See Samoa News edition Sept. 19, 2023 for details.)